461 killed in clashes between Turkey forces and PKK this year

Turkish soldiers carry the coffins of their comrades, who were killed in PKK attacks, during their funeral. (File Photo)

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The Turkish army says at least 461 people have been killed in clashes between government forces and the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) this year.
According to the army, some 373 PKK members were killed in operations carried out over five months, and 88 Turkish soldiers in the last nine months, AFP news agency quoted local media as saying on Monday.
The army has also said that it has staged 974 operations against PKK in the country's southeast over the last six months.
On Friday, Turkish military announced that at least 26 PKK members and one soldier have been killed in Ankara's latest operation against Kurdish separatists in the country's southeast province of Sirnak.
Thousands of ground troops, police forces and village guards are participating in the operation, which was launched on September 5 in Sirnak near the Iraqi border with fighter jets and helicopter gunships targeting PKK hideouts in the province and inside Iraq.
Ankara launched the operation in response to the growing number of PKK attacks that have claimed dozens of lives in recent months across Turkey.
PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s and the conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead on both sides.
HM/JR